No one can hurt you as badly as the people you love
by evaernst
Summary: It's not easy for a child from the 20th century living in the year 2016 and especially if his ymbryne doesn't understand him at all. That's at least how Hugh feels. It's not his fault they are fighting right now, is it? Hugh and Miss Peregrine are having a fight and Hugh leaves but when he gets into trouble will the ymbryne be at his side to protect him?
1. Chapter 1

**Hey everyone!**

 **Two fic in one evening, I'm obviously in a good mood**

 **This will be a multichapter fic, probably 3 chapters. I hope you like it. I'm looking forward to your feedback!**

 **I don't own anything. Please note that English is not my mother tongue and I'm sorry for all grammar and spelling mistakes.**

"You will do no such thing, Hugh!" Miss Peregrine took a deep breath to help her calm down. The boy who was slowly growing into manhood was currently stuck in a phase full of resistance. He was constantly testing his boundaries and questioned Alma's authority.

"And how do you want to prevent me from going? Will you lock me into the attic?" Hugh's voice was filled with venom and Alma had to remind herself that this was still her little boy only stuck in puberty.

"Of course not. My relationship with all of my children, and that includes you, is based on trust. If I forbid you to leave the house, I trust you to respect my order! But I will tolerate no disobedience!" Alma said calmly but firmly. "After all, I just want what's best for you."

Instantly Alma knew that the last sentence was the wrong thing to say to calm the boy. His eyes narrowed, his shoulder became rigid and his whole posture was shaking with anger. "You're a liar! You don't want us to have friends so that you can always keep us close because you are afraid of ending up bitter and alone!"

Alma tried not to show just how much his words had hurt her. "I have to admit it hurts me to hear that you think so little of me. I guess I cannot convince you otherwise but let me tell you that I love all of my children very much and I want for you to be happy. I would never try to keep you away from your friends. I simply say that a party of highschool kids is no place for a fourteen year old boy. That's why I don't want you to go. If you want to meet with your friends just invite them over."

"Invite them over" Hugh laughed bitterly. "To show them what kind of weirdos we are! An invisible boy, a girl with a mouth at the back of her head and an old woman who can turn into a bird. No thank you!" Hugh turned around.

"Hugh!" Alma now could no longer control the anger in her voice. "I think I taught you more respect regarding our peculiarities! They are special and unique and nothing to be ashamed of. It makes us more, not less and if your friends can't understand that you should think about if those children are really your friends."

"What do you know about friends?! Nothing! Because you don't have any. You don't know anything about friends or families or children for the matter! You are the fucking worst ymbryne in the whole world!" Hugh hissed angrily.

For a moment Alma was taken aback. His words felt like a punch in the face. Tears were springing to her eyes and suddenly her throat became dry. She didn't know what to say. Not in all those years as an ymbryne had one of her children ever said something like that to her.

'No one can hurt you as badly as the people you love.' Alma thought watching as Hugh was about to leave the room when he turned around once more.

"You know, sometimes I wish another ymbryne would have found me! I'm sure she would understand me! I hate you!" His eyes were shining angrily but also with a bit of fear. He had not meant for their fight to get out of control like that. He could see that he had hurt her and he already regretted his words. Of course he didn't hate her. He loved her in fact and that's why he wanted her to understand! Why didn't she understand! For a moment he considered apologizing but his pride prevented him from expressing his regret. She would get over it. Instead he slammed the door behind him and left the house.

It didn't happen very often that Alma cursed but right now that was about the only reaction that felt natural to her. "Damn it!"

Then she leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor. She placed her head in her hands and allowed herself to cry. She heard the door open and close and a couple of seconds later someone was pulling her into his arms. Alma did not look up to see who it was and instead simply enjoyed the feeling of the stranger's comfort and his hand running up and down her back in a comforting motion. Her sobs turned into silent tears until tears were no longer falling from her dark eyes. She took a couple of deep breaths before looking up.


	2. Chapter 2

**So this is the second chapter. I'm sorry it took me so long, but I hope it was worth the wait. I would be grateful for your feedback.**

„Emma?" Alma could not help feeling a bit disappointed. She had hoped that Hugh had come back.

"Yes, I heard you fighting with Hugh. What happened? What made him so upset?" Emma asked confused. "That's absolutely not the Hugh I know. Well, he's not been himself for some time now but that…that was not Hugh at all!"

Alma brushed the tear strains from her cheeks with the sleeve of her dress. "He met some High School girl that he fancies. She invited him to a party at some boy's parent's house. I didn't want him to go. He's too young and he doesn't know those people and worst of all, I don't know them. How am I supposed to protect him like that? Listen, I want the best for all of you and I don't want to suffocate you with my protection but you have spent the last thirty-seven years on an island without any other children on it. Being peculiar in a normal world is not easy. Living in this world needs practice and until you got enough practice I need to stay close…that doesn't make me a bad ymbryne." Alma whispered the last words so quietly that they were barely audible.

"Of course not" Emma answered. "You are the best ymbryne! Hugh just said those mean words because he was angry. He didn't mean it like that."

"Oh, he did." Alma said and smiled sadly. Slowly Alma got up, groaning quietly at the pain in her troubled leg.

"Well, I think you are a great ymbryne and so do the others. We love you." Emma answered and hugged her ymbryne once more.

"Thank you. I love you too" Alma whispered and blinked heavily to get rid of the tears that were once more threatening to fall.

"What are we going to do now?" Emma asked. Alma went over to the window and looked outside. The sun had already vanished behind the horizon and soon the last sunrays would disappear and the night would engulf the city.

" _We_ won't do anything. _I_ will look for him and _I_ will bring him back. Would you mind looking after the young ones while I'm gone?" Alma stated more confident than she actually was. She neither knew where the party was supposed to be nor how Hugh's love interest was called. Now her peculiarity would come in handy. Alma opened the window and quickly changed into her bird form. Before Emma could react Alma was out of the window.

Meanwhile Hugh was wandering the streets. He still had some time before he wanted to be at the party. Angrily he kicked a little stone across the street. Now he felt guilty. Their fight had been so stupid. Why could she not see that his friends were completely harmless! They were really nice to him! Still, he should not have said what he had said. He had hurt her, he could tell from the look on her face when he had said those mean words. But in this moment he had been so angry! He simply could not control himself! Of course he didn't hate her and she knew that, didn't she? Well, he would talk to her tomorrow. Tonight he would have a lot of fun!

Hugh grinned at the thought of seeing Macy in a couple of minutes. It was unbelievable that the beauty was interested in him. Him, of all boys! Until now he had managed to conceal his peculiarity quite well. In the last couple of years the bees in his stomach were listening to his commands better meaning they did not just fly out of his mouth at every given opportunity and were no longer stinging people accidently.

It was already dark when he reached the huge mansion where the party was already in full swing. The loud music could already be heard from afar and the house was stuffed with partying teenagers. He made his way into the huge mansion. Inside he stopped for a moment because he didn't know where to go now. He had never been at a party like that. He decided to look for Marcy first. She had said that she would be here early. No one was paying attention to him while he went from room to room and he started to feel a bit uncomfortable. The others around him were laughing and enjoying themselves while he felt completely out of place. But he couldn't leave now. He had promised Marcy to be here and he could not return home just now. Miss P would rip his head off.

"Hugh!" His head snapped around and he saw Marcy making her way over to him from the other end of the room. She had a red plastic cup in her hand. "Hugh, I'm so glad you came!"

"Yes..yes" Hugh stammered and blushed. "I'm glad too"

"Here" Marcy offered him her cup. He looked at it skeptical.

"Is that…alcohol?" Hugh asked and Marcy laughed loudly.

"Yeah, is that a problem for you, mother's boy?"

Hugh frowned angrily. He was not a mother's boy. "No, of course not." He grabbed the cup but hesitated to take a sip. Miss P would be so angry. The older ones who had already come of age were already allowed to drink alcohol but Miss P would never let him even have a sip of alcohol.

'Well, what she doesn't know won't hurt her' He thought and took a tentative sip. It tasted awful. How could anyone drink that stuff?

"Do you like it? I mixed it myself. It's 50:50." Marcy smiled. Hugh didn't know what she was talking about but he forced a smile and tried to ignore the burning in his throat.

"Well then, have some more! You look you are not enjoying yourself." Marcy said and frowned.

"No, I'm fine!" Hugh quickly answered and to prove his point he took another more determined sip of the cocktail in his hand. The burning didn't get any better.

"Well, then come on, I'll introduce you to the others."

At the same time a peregrine falcon flew over the city. Although in her bird form she possessed a very good sight she had not yet spotted the place she was looking for. The longer it took her to find her boy the more desperate she became. He was out there all alone and it was already dark! The bird decided to go a little lower. Suddenly she heard loud noise and what young people nowadays claimed to be music. She then spotted the place the loud noises were coming from. It was a huge mansion with a huge garden around it. Alma screeched happily and nosedived towards her destination. She decided to choose a save place for observation first. She chose a large tree in the garden from where she had an ideal position to observe both the garden and the house. She then started to look out for Hugh. He was nowhere to be seen. It was difficult for Alma to keep track of time while she was in her bird form but she guessed that she waited for about half an hour without any sign of Hugh. Now it was time to take some action. Carefully she flew off again circling the house a couple of times doing her best trying to spy into the windows without being seen herself. Suddenly she saw him. He was on the ground floor standing with the back to the window talking to a girl. Alma chose a place on the fence a couple of meters away to observe her boy. Even if Hugh would turn around he would not spot her sitting in the dark watching him. She contemplated what to do next. For a quick moment, she considered dragging him home by his collar. But that would only lead to another escalation between them and she didn't want that. She wanted him to understand that she did everything she did because she loved him. She wanted him to understand that he and the others meant the world to her and that his words had hurt her immensely. He just wanted them to be like a real family. No, she would wait here and observe the situation. She would intervene only when necessary. Maybe he was right and all his friends were nice and there was nothing to worry about for her-well, nothing except for the alcohol that was surely in this strange red cup. She and him would have a serious talk in the morning. For a moment, her thoughts wandered to her other children but she decided to trust Emma to look after them.

As the party continued Alma became more and more tired. Normally she would have been in bed already. Hugh on the other hand seemed to get more energetic the later it became. He laughed louder and seemed to flirt more with the girl standing next to him. Alma screeched quietly in a mixture of amusement and worry when he put an arm around the girl's waist.

It was about half an hour later when from one moment to the other the situation went out of control. With time Hugh had become bolder, pulling the girl closer and flirting more obviously. Alma was not happy at all with her charge. She liked courtship the old-fashioned way. This was way too bold for her liking. She was truly aware that her opinion might not be contemporary but to her mind being a gentleman was never out of date.

Suddenly Hugh put her other hand on the girl's neck and pulled her face towards his own. Alma rolled her eyes as best as a bird could. What happened next happened very quickly.

Hugh felt tipsy. He had not drunk very much, actually the cup he was holding was still the one Marcy had given him a couple of hours ago but he was not used to alcohol at all. It was not a bad feeling, he enjoyed that he seemed to think less about what he was doing and did not feel nervous anymore. Some time ago he even dared to put an arm around her waist.

'Now or never' He thought and pulled Marcy closer. Their lips touched and it felt like a firework was exploding behind his closed eyes. It seemed like all the bees in his stomach were coming to life from one moment to the other. It took him a moment to realize that the buzzing in his stomach was stronger than usual-much stronger. Quickly he pulled away and turned around. He tried to keep his mouth shut pressing his lips together with all the strength he possessed but to no vain. At first it was only one bee that escaped his mouth but soon his mouth was filled with bees. His cheeks were stuffed. To all the outsiders he must have looked like a hamster.

"Hugh?" Marcy asked sounding insecure. "Are you okay? You don't look very good." She took a tentative step towards him. He spun around and motioned her to stay where she was. The short moment of distraction was enough for him to lose control completely. The bees were swarming out of his mouth immediately filling the room. Loud screams could be heard throughout the house and everywhere people were trying to get rid of the bees. Hugh looked around in complete shock. What was he supposed to do? Normally he had some control over the bees but it seemed like they were so agitated that they did not listen to him at all.

Suddenly someone was shoving him from behind. Hugh fell to the ground. A huge boy was towering above him. He pulled Hugh to his feet by his collar and shook him with all the strength he possessed.

"What have you done?! You're weirdo and we do not want weirdos here! Whatever you have done, make it undone and then get out of here!" The boy growled angrily and shook Hugh once more so that Hugh saw star dancing in front of his eyes.

Suddenly Hugh was dropped. He groaned quietly but sat up immediately when he realized what was happening. A huge bird had flown in through the window. A peregrine falcon. Miss P!

She picked at the boy with her beak. Hugh could see deep cuts on the boy's forearms where Miss P had scratched him with her talons. When she was done with the boy she hooked her talons in Hugh's collar and pulled him to his feet. She quickly dragged him out of the house. As soon as they were outside the building Hugh was running as fast as he could. Miss P was following and guiding him from a couple of meters above the ground. He first stopped running when they reached their home. Quickly Miss Peregrine changed back and slipped into a dress. Hugh had turned around to grant her some privacy.

"You can turn around now" Miss Peregrine said and Hugh did as he was told. He was unable to look her into the eyes and instead looked at his shoes.

"Follow me, we need to talk"


	3. Chapter 3

**So, here's chapter 3. This is the last chapter of the story. I hope you liked it. I would be happy to get your feedback!**

 **I would like to thank everyone who's read, reviewed, followed and favorited my story! You keep me going! Please keep up your encouragement!**

 **Furthermore, I wanted to inquire if anyone has any story requests? Please do not hesitate to contact me.**

"Follow me, we need to talk"

Hugh looked fearful at his headmistress. Never once in his life had he been afraid of Miss Peregrine before. She was his second mother and she should not but be feared. Respected, yes, but not feared. But it was his own fault after all. He was the one who misbehaved, he could see that now and she had every right to be mad at him. Miss P turned around and made her way over to the parlor. Hugh sighed quietly and quickly followed Miss P.

Alma leaned against the window still and motioned for Hugh to sit down on the sofa. Hugh did as he was told. He was so nervous that he could hardly sit still. Alma resisted the urge to move over to him and to simply hug her little boy. But he deserved some sort of punishment. He should realize that as long as he lived with her he had to stick to her rules. Alma didn't like at all that he seemed to be afraid of her because she didn't want to be feared. Respected, yes, but not feared. For a couple of minutes both were quiet. Alma turned around and looked into the dark night. She leaned her head against the window and allowed herself a short moment of peace. She closed her eyes and wished for nothing more than to be able to lie down and sleep. She was unbelievably tired. But she couldn't go to bed now. Their stupid fight had to end now. Slowly she turned around and looked at her boy. He seemed to be even more nervous if that was even possible.

"Hugh" She said and he looked up. She had never seen one of her children look so guilty. "I am very disappointed in you"

That was the last straw that broke the camel's back. Heavy tears were falling from his eyes and he started sobbing.

"I-I am s-so sorry. I didn't m-mean what I-I said. Please, don't hate me." Hugh sobbed. Alma resisted the urge to run over to him to comfort him. She wanted to tell him that she could never hate him or any other of her children. She wanted to tell him that he would always have a special place in her heart. But for now, she resisted the urge to do so. But it was hard. He looked so fragile and small. From time to time she needed to remind herself that he was still a child no matter how grown up he pretended to be.

"I don't hate you, I could never hate any of my children. But you have to understand that the way you behaved was not acceptable and there have to be consequences." Alma said calmly giving up her position at the window and sat down on the sofa next to Hugh.

He nodded eagerly. "Anything, I will do anything…as long as you don't hate me." He said the last word so quietly that they were hardly audible. He took a deep breath and added louder and more determined. "And I don't hate you…at all. I love you."

Alma smiled and put two fingers under his chin and guided his gaze at her eyes. "I love you too and would never willingly do anything that would hurt you. It hurt me very much when you accused me of deliberately and selfishly keeping you away from your friends. I want you to have friends and I want to you to go out and enjoy yourself. But at the same time, I'm constantly worried for you. But not just for you also for the others. There is so much that you don't know about this world, so much to explore. I want to explore this world together with you. I want to teach you how to have a good life in this world."

Hugh nodded while fresh tears were running down his cheeks. "It was so scary when I couldn't control my bees. And now they are gone." He sobbed again and leaned against her shoulder.

"Don't worry, they will come back. But can you understand my point of view a little bit better now? I'm happy for you that you've obviously found a girl who likes you-although I have to admit that you acted a little bold for my liking. You know, every girl likes gentlemen."

Hugh chuckled through his tears. "I'm sure she doesn't like me anymore. Not after what happened today."

"Well, that was in fact most unfortunate. But if she truly likes you she will accept your peculiarity and if she doesn't she doesn't deserve you. It's as simple as that." Alma answered and put an arm around his shoulders. She couldn't get herself to feel angry at the boy sobbing into her shoulder anymore.

"I'll never find someone who loves me, never. How could anyone love someone with a stomach full of bees? I'm going to die all alone. Well, maybe I'm going to get a bunch of cats." Hugh answered bitterly.

"That's nonsense and you know that. How often have I told you that being peculiar doesn't make you less, but more! Someday someone will come along who will cherish your peculiarity, I'm sure. And you are never going to die alone. You'll always have me and you'll always have the others. We are a family, after all." Alma answered. She could not help adding a little joke. "But if the day comes that you feel so lonely that you consider getting a pet-please don't get a cat. I once had an encounter with a cat and let's just say that birds and cats are not very good friends."

Hugh chuckled again and sat up. He brushed over his eyes with the sleeve of his shirt. Miss Peregrine offered him a hanky to blow his nose.

"You know, I'm really glad you followed me. I'm sure that boy would have punched the crap out of me."

Miss Peregrine nodded. "Yes, that was a most unpleasant encounter. But I'm sure he'll have some scars to always remind him not to bully a ymbryne's charge."

"To be honest, I think that he's learned nothing. To his mind the only thing that happened was that he was attacked by some falcon that has gone wild."

"And by some bees that have gone wild." Alma added and Hugh nodded consenting.

"For them that must have been one hell of a crazy evening" Hugh said and sighed.

"Language, Hugh! But I'm sure you are right, but to be honest it was an unusual evening for me too. And may I be frank, I'm glad it's over." Alma said suddenly sounding very tired. This evening had really taken a toll on her.

Hugh looked at her guiltily. "I am truly sorry. I promise I'll never be so disrespectful again. I truly value what you have done and still do for me. You know, I could not wish for a better ymbryne."

Alma smiled tiredly. "Thank you. Are you feeling better?"

Hugh nodded and hugged Alma again. "Yes, thank you…for not giving up on me."

Alma nodded courtly. "You might not like it, but you are just a boy. You are allowed to be irrational and impulsive. That's what I am there for. There's just one thing I cannot accept: I didn't like to see you drink alcohol. There is a reason that there is an age restriction for the consumption of alcoholic beverages. You know very well that I do enjoy a glass of wine from time to time myself but I'm a grown woman. You are still growing and alcohol can damage your brain. I want you to understand that you can have fun without alcohol, too. I'm sorry if I was a bad example. If it helps you understand I will restrict my alcohol consumption too."

Hugh shook his head. "No that's not necessary. I know that I am not supposed to drink alcohol. You will probably be glad to hear that I did not like it at all."

"I'm indeed relieved. But now, let's call it a night, I am unbelievably tired. We can continue this conversation tomorrow." Alma suggested and Hugh agreed. It had been a long night for him too.

They were just leaving the parlor when the doorbell rang. Alma raised her eyebrow. Maybe someone had called the police? But she could handle it, it was not the first time there were police officers standing in front of her door. Quickly she composed herself, stretching her shoulders to relieve the pressure and made her way over to the front door. Hugh was waiting nervously in the background.

Alma opened the door. In front of her was not the police but a girl. Marcy.

"Good evening, my name is Alma Lefay Peregrine. How may I help you?"

"I-" Marcy looked at the woman in front of her nervously. Although Alma was not very tall she could be quite intimidating, especially if the first encounter happened in the middle of the night. "May I speak to Hugh?"

For a moment Alma considered declining the wish or at least to tell her how impolite it was to disturb someone so late at night but in the end, she decided against it. The girl looked nice. She wanted to know as well what the girl wanted from her boy.

Alma took a step to the side to reveal the view at Hugh who was waiting a couple of meters behind his headmistress.

"Hugh!" Marcy exclaimed. She quickly strode past Alma and flung her arms around his neck. "I'm so glad to find you here. I was so worried when you left so quickly."

For a moment Hugh was at a loss for words. "I cannot believe that you are here. I thought I would never see you again after what happened tonight."

"Well, I would be lying if I said that I understood what was going on or what you did but I don't care. I'm just glad that Jason had not the chance to hurt you. By the way I have never seen a bird act so strange. He attacked Jason just like that! I mean, don't get me wrong, he deserved it but it was strange, wasn't it?" Marcy said a bit confused. Hugh laughed.

"She, the bird was a she. And if you want to know why she did it you can ask her yourself." Hugh answered and nodded at Miss Peregrine. Marcy looked at Alma both curiously and scared.

"I think I don't understand-" Marcy said and Alma interrupted her.

"I'm sorry, I'm sure Hugh is more than capable to explain everything. You may go into the parlor but please don't close the door. I will go to bed now. Can I trust you two to behave?" Alma asked and looked at the two seriously.

"Don't worry. We are going to be good" Hugh said and held up two fingers as a sign that he was serious.

"Good. I then wish you a good night. Please keep your voices down, the others are already sleeping"

"Good night" Hugh and Marcy said at the same time. Alma smiled at the two and made her way up the stairs. Hugh and Marcy made their way into the parlor but did not close the door, just as they were asked. It seemed like the whole story had come to a happy end after all. Maybe the fear Hugh had to go through tonight was punishment enough.


End file.
